DFA chief urges DOLE to defer deployment ban

Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario AFP 

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has urged the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to defer the ban on the deployment of Filipino workers to 41 countries deemed to be remiss on laws that protect foreign workers.

In a statement, Del Rosario on Thursday asserted that “there are compelling reasons to defer further action on the list.”

“The list does not seek to pass any value judgment on any country. It serves as a crucial benchmark for all government agencies concerned for the betterment of the safety, welfare and working conditions of our nationals,” he noted.

But Del Rosario stressed the need for the DFA to “have ample opportunity to dialogue with these countries.”

“Such a dialogue would be to the benefit of the Filipino workers already there and those planning to seek gainful employment in those countries,” he said.

According to the secretary, the foreign office would “do all that is necessary to protect our nationals overseas.”

“Ultimately, good and friendly relations with all nations allow us the ability to work on behalf of our nationals overseas,” Del Rosario said.

The government “gives the highest importance to the safety and welfare of overseas Filipinos and we continue to reinforce our partnership with Congress and other stakeholders on this crucial issue, he said, adding that “pursuant to Republic Act No. 10022, the deployment of OFWs will only be made to countries which protect them.”

Earlier, the DOLE-attached Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said in a resolution the blacklisted countries had failed to sign international conventions protecting migrant workers.

Neither had these states forged bilateral agreements with the Philippines “on the protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs),” the resolution said.

The same OFW host nations also do not have their own laws protecting foreign workers, the resolution added.

The 41 countries covered by the OFW deployment ban are:

1. Afghanistan

2. Antigua and Barbuda

3. Barbados

4. Cambodia

5. Cayman Islands

6. Chad

7. Croatia

8. Cuba

9. North Korea

10. Dominica

11. East Timor

12. Eritrea

13. Haiti

14. India

15. Iraq

16. Kyrgyzstan

17. Lebanon

18. Lesotho

19. Libya

20. Mali

21. Mauritania

22. Montenegro

23. Mozambique

24. Nauru

25. Nepal

26. Niger

27. Pakistan

28. Palestine

29. Serbia

30. St. Kitts and Nevis

31. St. Lucia

32. St. Vincent & the Grenadines

33. Sudan

34. Swaziland

35. Tajikistan

36. Tonga

37. Turks and Caicos

38. Tuvalu

39. US Virgin Islands

40. Vanuatu

41. Zimbabwe

Originally posted at 05:09 pm | Thursday, November 03, 2011